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Antifungal activity of 4-hydroxy-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)acetophenone against Candida albicans: evidence for the antifungal mode of action

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Abstract

The main secondary metabolite of Senecio nutans is 4-hydroxy-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)acetophenone (4HMBA). The antifungal activity of this compound and three derivatives was assessed using Candida albicans. 4HMBA exhibited the highest antifungal activity among the assayed compounds. The Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC = 0.133) indicated a synergistic fungicidal effect of 4HMBA (5 mg L−1) and fluconazole (FLU) (0.5 mg L−1) against the C. albicans reference strain (ATCC 10231). Microscopy showed that 4HMBA inhibits filamentation and reduces cell wall thickness. Our findings suggest that 4HMBA is an interesting compound to diminish resistance to commercial fungistatic drugs such as fluconazole.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ing. Alberto Andrade and Lic. Manuel Siñeriz from LAMENOA (Laboratorio de Microscopía Electrónica del Noroeste Argentino–UNT-CONICET) for technical advice and assistance. This work was supported by grants from Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica of the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (CIUNT; Tucumán, Argentina), from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET; Buenos Aires, Argentina), and from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT; Buenos Aires, Argentina).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Ayacucho 491 (T4000INI), San Miguel De Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    José R. Soberón, Emilio F. Lizarraga, Melina A. Sgariglia, María B. Carrasco Juárez, Diego A. Sampietro, Aida Ben Altabef & César A. N. Catalán

  2. Laboratorio de Biología de Agentes Bioactivos y Fitopatógenos (LABIFITO), Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Ayacucho 471 (T4000INI), San Miguel De Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    José R. Soberón, Melina A. Sgariglia, María B. Carrasco Juárez, Diego A. Sampietro & Marta A. Vattuone

  3. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), Ciudad Autónoma De Buenos Aires, Argentina

    José R. Soberón, Emilio F. Lizarraga, Melina A. Sgariglia, María B. Carrasco Juárez, Diego A. Sampietro, Aida Ben Altabef, César A. N. Catalán & Marta A. Vattuone

  4. Instituto de Química del Noroeste Argentino (INQUINOA), CONICET, Ayacucho 471 (T4000INI), San Miguel De Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    Emilio F. Lizarraga, Aida Ben Altabef & César A. N. Catalán

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  1. José R. Soberón
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  2. Emilio F. Lizarraga
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  3. Melina A. Sgariglia
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  4. María B. Carrasco Juárez
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  5. Diego A. Sampietro
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  6. Aida Ben Altabef
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  7. César A. N. Catalán
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  8. Marta A. Vattuone
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Correspondence to José R. Soberón.

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Soberón, J.R., Lizarraga, E.F., Sgariglia, M.A. et al. Antifungal activity of 4-hydroxy-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)acetophenone against Candida albicans: evidence for the antifungal mode of action. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 108, 1047–1057 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0559-3

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